Levi sat cross-legged in the shade behind Mae's hut, silver stag clutched in his palm like a dragon's treasure. The coin gleamed in the sunlight, solid and cold, with its ridged edge pressing into his skin. He'd hidden it well—tucked beneath a loose plank under the hearth, wrapped in cloth—but he couldn't help pulling it out every now and then just to admire it.
His first coin.
His first proper gain.
And now, it was time to see if the cheat engine could do more than just grow berries.
He rubbed his palms together. "Alright. Let's try something useful."
He focused his thoughts the same way he had when summoning swampberries. This time, he pictured a rough piece of wood—nothing fancy, just a plank, like the ones he'd seen holding up the stalls in Bogwater.
No sound. No flicker. No smell of earth like before.
Just silence.
He furrowed his brow and tried again—this time picturing a stone slab, something flat and gray. Something heavy.
Again, nothing.
"Don't tell me this is another one of those 'one-chance' things…"
He leaned back, frowning, then had a thought—an itch in the back of his skull. Just like with the berries, maybe the cheat had categories? Food, gold, materials…
Gold.
His eyes widened.
He hadn't even looked at that tab.
Pulling up the invisible-but-familiar cheat screen—only visible to him, and only when he focused hard enough—he scrolled past "Food" (swampberries only), past "Weapons" (grayed out), past "Materials" (currently empty), and paused at the final entry:
Gold: 1
His stomach dropped.
"One?"
He blinked and looked around, patting his pockets, his tunic, even under his sleeve.
Nothing jingled. No pouch had grown heavier. No sudden bag of treasure had fallen from the sky.
He looked back at the number.
Still: 1.
"No, no, no…"
He scrambled to his feet, nearly falling over himself as he raced back into the hut. He tore up the loose floorboard, heart pounding, and pulled out the cloth bundle.
There it was.
His silver stag.
Just one.
He stared at it.
Then stared at the number.
Then back at the coin.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Levi sank to his knees on the floor, holding the coin like a cursed relic.
"So that's it?" he muttered. "I gave it a number. One coin. One silver stag. And now—now this is gold?"
He checked again, hoping he'd made a mistake. That maybe the screen said 'Currency: Silver' or some kind of toggle.
Nothing.
Just: Gold: 1
Not dragons. Not crowns. Not even pennies.
Just... a silver stag.
He fell back with a groan, staring at the thatched roof above.
"By the Old Gods, I've cooked myself."
He didn't scream. Not quite. But it came close—a strangled sound like a dying sheep as he rolled onto his side and slapped the ground.
One silver coin.
That's what the system thought "gold" meant now.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," he muttered. "To think… I could've had a chest full of dragons. Mountains of wealth. Castles and keeps and courtyards with fountains that spit gold…"
He held the silver stag up to the light again.
"And now I'm locked into this. Forever."
There was a cruel, bitter poetry in it. Like being reborn a prince only to find the crown made of tin.
He curled up for a moment, mourning his own mistake.
Eventually, he sat up, brushing straw from his tunic. The cheat screen still hovered faintly in his thoughts.
He switched back to "Materials."
Still empty.
But now, he had a guess.
Maybe, just like the berries, he'd need to first touch—or use—something before it unlocked. Just like how swampberries had worked only after he ate one.
That meant, before he could summon wood or stone… he'd need to carry it. Or break it. Or maybe build something with it.
Levi frowned.
"More work…"
The thought made him shudder. But there was no escaping it now.
If he wanted this cheat to be useful—truly useful—he'd need to experiment.
Carefully.
Because one slip-up, and he'd be the richest man in the Neck with nothing but silver stags no one wanted.